Before being purchased by celebrity business mogul Marcus Lemonis—and, ultimately, rebranding to Gander Outdoors—Gander Mountain asked MONO to help bring meaning to their tagline: We Live Outdoors.

As we dug into consumer insights, we found that the typical hunter and angler might not actually be the Busch-drinking, Confederate-flag-waving ’Merican our society perpetuates. Instead, true outdoorsmen are masters of their surroundings, and with that mastery, comes a deep respect for the moments that can unfold only in the outdoors.

Agency: MONO. Production Company: Committee Films. Director: Brandon Boulay. Creative Director: Joel Stacy. Art Director: Meredith Abbott. Copywriter: Ethan Miller. Music: Charlie Parr “Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold My Body Down.”

My dad died from cancer of the everything. He's the one who taught me all I know about the outdoors.

So when Gander Mountain asked MONO to create a brand moment celebrating all the outdoorsy dads out there? Well, you can bet your ass I wrote these social posts in his honor.

Agency: MONO. Creative Director: Joel Stacy. Designer: Calvin Labrie. Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

Grounded in the belief that life comes alive outdoors, MONO reignited Gander Mountain's brand by capturing authentic moments outdoorsmen live for and pairing them with short, punchy headlines that acted as rallying cries.

Agency: MONO. Creative Director: Joel Stacy. Art Director/Designer: Alea Toussaint & Meredith Abbott. Copywriter: Ethan Miller. Photographer: Andy Anderson & Ryan Taylor.

Inspired by Scandinavian simplicity and elements of nature, benjayway and yours truly created a packaging identity system for a new line of flagship beers.

Each identity captures the spirit of Venn Brewing with unique names that attract attention and carefully crafted visuals that stand out from the competition.

Copywriting/Strategy: Inkslinger Copyhouse. Design: benjayway.

While other craft breweries wax poetic about their local roots, Riley Hayes set their sights on the global origins of Insight’s fine ales by creating fantastical narratives that captured the epic quest for the inspiration behind each brew, as told by a fictional world wanderer, the Brewmaster. Excerpts from these quests unfold in a series of chapters on Insight’s award-winning packaging.

But how did these stories come to be, you ask? Behold— allow this prologue to quench your curiosity.

Agency: Riley Hayes. Production Company: Kobamm Productions. Creative Director: Eric Weiss. Design Director: Trent Edwards. Senior Copywriter: Ethan Miller. Audio Production: Babble-On Recording Studios. Animator: Tom Coben. Composer: Levi Brown.

Brewed with 100% malted barley and traditional German lager yeast, Royal Nüisance is Insight’s take on a traditional German-style lager.

Agency: Riley Hayes. Creative Director: Eric Weiss. Design Director: Trent Edwards. Senior Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

With a world-class reputation for its applied-learning programs, it’s no wonder Dunwoody College of Technology delivers a 99% job placement rate.

To celebrate this feat, Riley Hayes created The Support Group for the Suddenly Successful, a place where recent grads tackle tough topics related to their newfound success.

Agency: Riley Hayes. Production Company: THREEVOLTS. Creative Director: Eric Weiss & Zaar Taha. Design Director: Trent Edwards. Senior Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

During Valentine's week, Target Creative asked fans to submit photos of themselves and their Valentine. In return, we created caricatures to be used as last-minute digital Valentine’s cards, profile pictures, and more.

Here's what happened:

Organically reached more than three million guests, which is seven times greater than Target's daily average of 215,000 guests.

Generated nearly 18,000 comments (more than 5,000 of which were photo submissions), well above Target's average of 2,000 comments per day.

Engagement rate was 27.06% or 8,100% above average.

698,327 total organic views.

515 caricatures were drawn.

Agency: Target Creative. Production Company: Target Creative. Director: Todd Grabe. Creative Director: Travis Robertson. Associate Creative Director: Jon Baugh. Art Director: Ryan Hanson. Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

Made to Matter is a first-of-its-kind collection that brings together 16 leading natural, organic and sustainable brands to introduce new products and make them more accessible.

The Made to Matter products span six categories—Baby, Beauty and Personal Care, Grocery, Healthcare and Household—and can be found throughout all Target stores. Brands include Annie’s Homegrown, Burt’s Bees, Clif Bar, Ella’s Kitchen, EVOL, Horizon Organic, Hyland’s, Kashi, method, Plum Organics, Seventh Generation, SheaMoisture, Target’s Simply Balanced, Vita Coco, Yes To and Zarbee’s Naturals.

Agency: Target Creative. Creative Director: Eric Vermilyea. Art Director/Designer: Phil Clark. Senior Copywriter: Jesse Gadola. Copywriter: Ethan Miller. Illustation: Geoff McFetridge. Animation: Moving Colour.

Converse One Star, a retro-inspired collection that represents Converse’s distinctive "downtown cool” vibe, is an exclusive brand for Target.

Target Creative shot this spot to celebrate the fall 2013 clothing and apparel line—a $42 million business for Target—with a rebellious spirit unparalleled by anything the brand had previously done.  

Agency: Target Creative. Director of Photography: Joseph Aguirre. Director: Todd Grabe. Creative Director: Matt Sylvan. Art Director: Sam Enz & David Swanson. Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

Target's sponsored athletes play an important role in Target’s story. They help differentiate the brand and extend its cultural leadership. They also make a strong connection with guests over a shared love of sports.

This video introduces the world to the then-newest member of Team Target: professional skateboarder Curren Caples.

Agency: Target Creative. Production Company: Brindle Collective. Director: Todd Grabe. Creative Director: Eric Vermilyea. Art Director: Dave Swanson. Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

The harm and dangers associated with tobacco may not be top-of-mind for most Minnesotans, whether that’s because of other more timely issues impacting their lives, or because they don’t smoke themselves and they potentially see fewer people smoking in general.

And while many understand the tremendous burden of health care costs on our lives, most aren’t aware that smoking-related illnesses cost Minnesotans $3 billion each year, and it’s only going up.

Agency: Haberman. Production Company: Committee Films. Director: Todd Grabe. Creative Director: Emalie Wichmann. Associate Creative Director: Zach Keenan. Junior Art Director: Sarah Johnson. Senior Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

As a contributor to SB Nation’s Twinkie Town and Pinstripe Alley, I partner with my buddy Craig to create custom illustrations for these two SB Nation affiliates.

MORE COMING SOONISH.

Illustrator: Craig Nordeen. Senior Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

Target is the most-followed mass retailer on Instagram, with millions of followers. Target Creative was challenged—day in, day out—to bring the Target brand to life on the Instagram platform in a way that further inspired brand love.

The content we created reached over 40 million followers every day and was recognized by the likes of The Webby Awards, The Mashies, and others.

Warning: Long before becoming a father, this is where I prepared for parenthood by carefully honing my dad jokes.

Agency: Target Creative. Creative Director: Travis Robertson. Associate Creative Director: Steve Chirhart & Jon Baugh. Designer/Art Director: Allan Peters, Sandi Grigoryan, Kyle Gustafson, Taylor Snyder, Michael Harris & Heather Bahr. Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

To herald the grand opening of new Target stores, Target Creative helped deliver the ever-iconic bull's-eye logo to cities across America on an epic scale.

This campaign also promoted the first-ever Target to open in Hawaii.

Agency: Target Creative. Creative Director: Jason Langer. Associate Creative Director: Ted Halbur. Art Director: Amy Hardy. Copywriter: Ethan Miller. Illustrator: Tom DiTolla with Spectrum Studio. Audio Production: Rumble. 

Housed in New York City's Chelsea neighborhood, Target Too merged a collection of Target products—EOS lip balms, Method soap, LEGOs, Beats by Dre Headphones, Threshold furniture, and others—with cutting-edge technology.

We invited guests to play, share, shop, and explore the space. Visitors were encouraged to download a mobile app that could transform the 12 spectacles and interactive stations into a design-meets-digital experience.

Agency: Target Creative. Creative Director: Jason Langer & Travis Robertson. Associate Creative Director: Graham Hall & Rett Martin. Art Director: Heather Bahr & Brenda Irlbeck. Senior Copywriter: Jesse Gadola. Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

In a Snap is an image recognition app that lets you shop Target items directly off pages of magazines and print ads—without having to scan those ghastly QR codes, look up links, or search for products online or in stores.

Agency: Target Creative. Creative Director: Nora Maloney. Associate Creative Director: Paul WildeL'Heureux. Art Director/Designer: Aaron Melander. Copywriter: Ethan Miller.

A $4.5 billion business for Target, the College 2014 campaign saw a $38 million growth from 2013. Target.com raked in $33.8 million at an 83.3% comp rate, too. But I’m a words guy, not a numbers guy. So there’s that.

Agency: Target Creative. Creative Director: Jason Langer. Associate Creative Director: Kristen Gunderson. Art Director: Kelly Gray & Emily Reile. Letterer: Eric Marinovich. Copywriter: Ethan Miller.